This Is Appalling Behavior At A FIRST Event

[PAR_WIG1350]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

It only works if the green-shirted volunteers agree with it. After I saw a person holding a sign at the entrance to the pits in St Louis reminding everyone to yell ROBOT! whenever pushing a robot cart, I spoke with a couple of the safety advisors to ask if people yelling ROBOT! was a "best practice" or if it was something that should be discouraged. They both looked at me as if I were from another planet and told me that every team should be encouraged to do it...and then they pointed out the person they had just commended for holding a sign at the entrance to the pits reminding everyone to yell ROBOT! whenever pushing a robot cart.

At two separate events this year I was talking with a student in a team's pit when that student suddenly yelled ROBOT! in my face, making me jump backwards. In neither case did I actually end up in the path of the oncoming robot -- in fact, in both cases the robot was already past the pit and was heading away. I am afraid I might have gotten a bit snippy at the offenders, pointing out to them that their shouting was taking attention away from what people needed to be watching out for, and that they had no reason to be shouting about a robot that they themselves were not escorting, especially when there was nobody in the way of said robot who needed a warning.

I never saw that sign, but it explains a few things. For the entire competition I tried to stick to a polite "excuse us" with "please"s and "thank you"s if there was time. But few even acknowledged our presence. Sometimes adding something like "our robot needs to get by" would get their attention (probably due to the inclusion of the word robot). But some clusters wouldn't even acknowledge this. They were all expecting to hear someone scream ROBOT! to signal that they had to return to reality and pay attention.

This level of complacency is not only rude, it can be dangerous. Regardless of whether or not there is a robot anywhere near you, blocking an aisle is not a good idea; furthermore, ignoring someone who politely asks to get by you, again, whether or not they have a robot, is just plain rude. The proper response would be to do your best to facilitate their request to pass. If there is simply a traffic jam, explain that to the person. If their is a reason that you are blocking the aisle, such as a pool of battery acid or some other safety hazard, notify the person. It is almost never acceptable to ignore someones polite request to get by a crowd in the pits, or in most situations really.